The Ultimate Trickstar
by JoJo Fanatic
Summary: Jonathan Joestar was a man of great honor and respect. His grandson... not so much. Now stuck in Japan for a year, Joseph Joestar is trying his best to get this chapter in his life over with. But, he soon becomes apart of a bizarre world where he must fight to survive. It's time for the ultimate trickster to shine and take a hold of his destiny!
1. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

The casino floor was bustling more than usual on this night. The patrons who often had their head buried in the games of chance were now wrapped up into a panic. The sound of the ringing alarm was causing more chaos than expected. Murmurs and shout seemed to echo throughout the casino's floor as all eyes were darting around the massive room. Each pair of eyes were on the lookout for something, or rather someone. A shadowy figure seemed to be leaping from rafter to rafter, trying to conceal its movements while a light trail of light seemed to follow its steps.

"What's with the alarm?"

"I was about to win!"

"Are we in trouble?"

The voices of concern echoed through the floor as several men in black pushed their way through the crowds of panicked patrons. The three men pushed into the center of the floor and began to scan the rafters looking for their target. They didn't have to look long before they hear one of the patrons' shout.

"Hey… up there!"

The men in black gazed upwards to where the patron was pointing. Standing in full view of the crowd was their target. Now longer shrouded in darkness it was easier to see what the shadowy figure looked like. Standing at least six feet and four inches seemed to be a young man. He wore massive dark brown boots that went up to his thighs. He had dark gray pants with a dark red strip running down the side tucked into the boots. On his hip were two belts, one wrapped around his waist and pants while the other was slightly tilted downwards wrapping around his lower half. The young man had a dark grey vest on with two red lines running down middle of the vest, almost splitting his body into two sections. On his arms were two dark gray arm bands and red leather gloves. He had a black cloak wrapped around his body that almost reached down to the floor. His face was hard to see as it was covered by a pair of massive aviation goggles and a black aviator cap.

However, the two most defining features of the young man, besides his massive height or well-built body, was a patch of hair that stuck out of the aviator cap pointing upwards and the massive smirk on his face.

"He's here. Move in immediately." One of the men in black said to the radio in his cuff as the three men pushed their way through the crowd and towards the young man.

The young man smirked only seemed to widen as he quickly turned heel and jumped off the platform landing on a nearby hanging art piece.

"Good now get running!" A boyish voice said as the young man slowly began to sprint forward.

"This is our only chance." A boy's voice said as the young man jumped from the first hanging platform to the next.

"Stay calm! You can get away now." A girl's voice said.

"We'll retrieve the briefcase on our end." Another girl's voice said.

"Suspects…. Not confirmed…. Hold positions…" A static voice chimed in as the young man made jumped to another platform.

"Hmm what was that?" The voice of the same girl said.

"Don't worry about us. Just concentrate on getting away!" The boyish voice interpreted as the young man jumped to another platform.

The young man jumped behind a hanging neon sign as the boyish voice spoke again. "But I have to say, showing yourself above that crowd before was an excellent move." The boyish voice said as the young man jumped down from the neon sign and onto the next platform. "Nice work as always Joker."

The young man stopped in his tracks and smirked to himself, "You know me. I love a good show." He said lightly chuckling.

"I bet Skull wouldn't pull it off that smoothly." A different girl's voice said laughing lightly at her joke.

The young man was so wrapped up in praising himself he didn't notice several men dressed in black appear on the balcony a few meters away from him. "There he is!" One of them shouted pointing at the young man.

"Oops, gotta go." Joker said sticking his tongue out to mock the men in black.

"Just run! Get out of there!" A girl's voice shouted.

"No need to tell me twice." Joker responded turning heel and heading in the opposite direction of the men in black.

"Okay, the enemy's focus is on him. Looks like the rest of us can slip away." The boyish voice said as Joker jumped to the next platform in front of him.

"Everyone's remember where we're meeting up?" A new voice said belonging to another girl.

"No worries, I can guide you all." A girl's voice said as Joker jumped from platform to platform the tiles lighting up under his feet each time he jumped from platform to platform.

Finally, he made it to the end of the room reaching a balcony looking over the floor. With one quick motion he pulled himself up on the rail and flipped his entire body over. In the blink of an eye he was on the other side of the railing.

Joker ran forward looking to make more distance between him and the men in black but then, two of them seemed to slide in from the side. But something was different about them now. They now seemed to be twice the size of a normal human and had thick blue masks covering their faces. Now blocking off his escape route Joker looked back to see if there was another way. To his surprise a man in black blocking the way back.

Joker wasn't worried however. "Take'em down Joker!" A girl's voice said as Joker smirked and jumped into the air. He seemed to guide his descent downers, landing on top of the man in black. Joker grabbed the thick blue mask covering the face of the man in black. Joker breathed in deeply as his hand seemed to glow. With one hard grunt from joker the mask flew off along with several drops of blood. Joker kicked the man in black forward using him as a jumping off point to safely land back on the ground.

The man in black stumbled forward as his body began grow dark. His entire body became almost ink like as bubbles began to form on several parts of his body. The man in black hunched over for a moment before growing even bigger, his human form was no longer recognizable from the dark mess.

Suddenly a new creature seemed to emerge from the darkness. It had the head of a bull with one eye scratched out. It had a long and narrow torso that connected to an even longer set of mechanical legs. It had a massive mechanical tail that waved back and forth as the creature held on to two odd shaped belts wrapping around it's waist. It towered over Joker and clearly meant him harm.

Joker responded to the transformation by pulling out of pair of metal clackers. He held them in his hands and analyzed his opponent while a voice spoke to him, "Compering power levels…. No threat. Get'em Joker!" The girl's voice said as Joker took a deep breath, his body glowing.

Joker rushed forward and threw the first pair of clackers. They crackled with electric like energy as they hit their target stunning the tall bull-like creature. Joker wasted no time and jumped into the air and pointed down at the creature. "Persona! Hermit Purple!" Joker shouted as his right hand was surrounded by several long purple vines covered in thorns. "Take this!" Joker shouted as the vines stretched forward ensuring the bull-like creature. Once bound Joker took another breath, "Hamon Overdrive!" Joker shouted as electric like energy flowed from Joker, to the vines, and evidently the bull-like creature.

The bull-like creature let out a cry of pain as it quickly disappeared into thin air leaving nothing behind. "Ok! Pull out before their back up get here." The girl's voice said congratulating Joker on his victory.

"Good, you defeated them with ease." The boyish voice said also congratulating Joker.

"Aww, thanks guys." Joker respond as the vines around his arms disappeared and the clacker he threw seemingly returned to his hands.

"More of them!? Be careful!" The girl's voice shouted in surprise as three figures in black appeared from thin air and the very ground itself. The closest of the men in black charged joker and swung at him with an electric baton.

Before the attack could connect Joker quickly jumped backwards landing on his hands and then performing another back flip to land on his feet. Joker smirked at his attack and breathed in deeply as his body was once again covered in electric like energy. Joker jumped up into the air soaring to the balcony above him landing with grace.

"Joker behind you! Go through the door!" A girl's voice said as soon as Joker landed. Joker quickly turned around and saw the door open door behind him. Wasting no time he sprinted forwards towards the open door escaping the casino floor.

Joker ran for a bit before finding himself in a different section of the casino. One with concrete walls and floor, giant metal pipes behind steel cages, and stickers on the wall incenting the reading to 'win!' and 'go for broke!'.

"You should be able to get out that way! Hurry!" The girl's voice seemed to shout at Joker.

"I heard yah! Making my way now!" Joker responded holding his ears as if it was damaged by the shouting.

"Dude you okay? Can you hear us?" A new voice said belonging to a boy this time.

"What? I can't hear you. Your gonna need to speak louder." Joker responded sarcastically as he made his way down the hallway.

"Ass." The boy's voice responded.

Joker continued to make his way through the twisting and turning hallways, ducking under the glass to avoid sight from the other rooms. Finally, he made it to the end of the last hallway where the stairs were located. He gleefully turned the corner before a voice snapped him back into reality.

"Up ahead! Stop!" The girl's' voice shouted causing Joker to stop in his track and almost fall over. He quickly began to swing his arms backwards to propel himself backwards behind a crate.

"Hey! You could have warned me earlier!" Joker whispered as loud as he could.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." The girl's voice responded throwing Joker's attitude right back at him.

Joker smirked, "Clever girl." Joker quickly began to jump from crate to crate hiding his presence each time he made his way across the room to the next crate. Eventually, he was at the last crate right at the end of the hallway and in front of the man in black.

"... Hey are you sure he came this way?" The man in black said to his earpiece. "Understood, I will continue the search." The man in black nodded and turned around heading down the hallway towards where he thought Joker was.

Joker jumped out from behind the crate and stuck his tongue out at the man in black. "Sucker." He said making his way up the stairs. He continued to make his way up the stairs while hearing the sounds of boots also making their way up the stairs as well.

Joker made it to the top of the stairs and ran down another hallway. When he opened the door he found himself in the casino ballroom. Joker ran to the railing of the balcony and looked for an exit. "Drat! I don't see anything." He said.

"The exit is right up ahead!" The girl's voice said.

Joker looked up and towards the stain glass window. "You can be serious!" Joker shouted.

"Nhn... ! That's just how it is! After all that commotion there's no way you're getting through the bottom floor." The girl responded.

Joker looked down below, she was right. No way out that way. As he weighed his options he heard the sound the several guards finally make it to the top of the stairs. "Over there!" He heard on guard shout.

"There's nowhere to run!" Another guard shouted as they pulled out their guns and pointed them at Joker.

"And next you'll say, 'Give up or we'll shoot!' am I right?" Joker asked pointing one finger at his head and another at the guards.

"Give up or we'll shoot!" One of the guards shouted before becoming completely confused.

"Sorry boys but looks like this is my stop!" Joker shouted jumping on the railing of the balcony. He ran across to the other side of the room and in front of the stain glass. "Okay here we go! Just like in the movies!" He shouted jumping through the stain glass.

Time seemed to slow down as Joker smashed through glass. Joker glided through the midnight air his body twisting and turning through the air. The moon behind him only silhouetted his body as began to fall back down to earth.

"What a show off." One of the girl's voices said.

"You're so reckless you know that?" Another's girl voice said.

"And that's why you all love me!" He said smiling as he came back down to the ground. He quickly adjusted his body so he would land on his toes. He then quickly rolled to his left adjusting to the floor. Joker slowly stood up as several glasses of shard landed behind him. He smiled but his happiness was quickly turned sour as several spotlights shown in front of him.

Joker brought his hands up in front of his eyes to block out some of the light. Once his eyes adjusted he could clearly see he was surrounded on all sides.

"Enemies, here?! These readings… it can't be!"

"Joker what's wrong!?"

"What happened!"

"Joker!

"An ambush?!"

"Oh no!"

"Can you handle this Joker?"

Joker smirked. "Of course, I can. I always have one last plan in situations like this!" He said.

"Please don't tell me you're gonna do that…." One of the voices groaned.

"Of course, when your back it against the wall there is only one thing you can do!" Joker shouted.

"Capture him!" A man over a megaphone said as several riot officers began to march forward towards Joker.

"Only one thing to do… RUN AWAY!" Joker shouted and he began to sprint away from the cops wildly swinging his arms back and forth as he ran. As Joker ran he noticed a fire escape ladder leading to the top of a building. Smirking he headed towards it and in one jump grabbed the bottom of the railing. He swung his body like a gymnast and quickly vaulted himself to the top of the ladder.

Feeling good he climbed the ladder looking down at the cops below. "See yah!" He shouted down at them sticking his tongue out. Joker made his way to the top of the ladder but was shocked to find a squad of police officers all waiting at the top with their guns drawn.

"Now hold on I ca-" Is all Joker was able to get out before receiving the end of the rifle to his face. The hit caused a few drops of blood to drip out of his nose as he body was forced off the ladder and down into the swarm of cops below.

"Get off me! I bite!" Joker launched several more insults and curses at the cops as they pinned him to the floor and quickly put a pair of cuffs on him.

Joker continued to struggle as a detective strolled through the crowd of officers up to Joker. "Didn't expect to find some kid." The detective said. "You have your teammate to thank for this. You were sold out." The detective said grabbing Joker's head by his hair and lifting him up slightly. Joker responded by spitting some blood into the detective's eyes.

The detective wiped away the blood and smirked, "Take him away." The detective said walking away from Joker. Joker was picked up by one of the offices kicking and screaming and thrown into an offices car. Within minutes Joker found himself in front a camera posing for his mug shot.

* * *

Three men in suits looked at the young man sitting in front of them. He was dressed in a black school uniform however, it looked like he had made some modifications. He had rolled back both the sleeves on his shirt to show his muscular arms. The young man had a pair of leather fingerless gloves and thick black boots. On the collar of the uniform were several golden pins including a peace sign and a golden hand. The young man was unconscious and had several bruises all along his body.

The man agent in the room scoffed at the unconscious victim, "Guess the drug was too strong…" He said before turning to one of his partners behind him. "Wake him up." He said as the man behind him nodded throwing a bucket full of cold water on the unconscious boy.

The young man suddenly awoke coughing up some of the cold water that had landed in his mouth. The young man slowly opened his eyes adjusting to the dimly lighted room. He found two cameras one in each corner of the room and three detectives each one glaring at him.

"No dozing off." The main detective said coldly, his tone full of venom and spite.

"Where…." The young man said trying to remember where he was and how he had gotten there. Then it all came flooding back to him. He had been captured by the police, handcuffed to the chair, and was tortured for what seemed like several hours. Or days, honestly his sense of time was off and he couldn't even tell if it was night or day anymore. They had given him something, something that had made the entire world cloudy and dim.

"You still don't get it, do you?" The main detective said as the young man began to twist and turn in his chair, trying desperately to escape. "Give it up!" The detective smirked and kicked the young man in the chest knocking him and the chair over.

The young man slammed down against the hard-concrete floor causing him to cough up a small amount of blood. The young man glared at the detective and was about to say something when the detective brought his foot down on the young man's head. He slowly began to put pressure on his head as he rubbed his heel on the side of his head. "Come on, cooperate! Or what, do you want another shot?" The detective asked with a venomous tone.

The young man didn't respond only looked at one of the camera in the corner of the room. The detective followed the young man's eye and lifted his foot up. "Hm, what about the camera? Are you thinking it can be used a video evidence?" The detective said lifting the young man's head up pulling him by his hair.

"No, I'm just thinking about how I'm gonna punish you guys." The young man said weakly trying to put on a smirk but unable to.

The detective smirked and pulled harder on the young man's hair. "As if. There are no laws here that are gonna protect a foreigner like you. You're just a filthy criminal." The detective responded before slamming the young man's head hard on the concrete floor. The detective then slowly stood and kicked the young man hard in the stomach. "I hate guys like you, acting all cocky. You should just do the world a favor and off yourself already." The detective said kicking the young man in the stomach once again.

The detective turned back and grabbed a clipboard from one of his partners. "Obstruction of justice, blackmail, defamation, possession of weapons… manslaughter too, yeah? Talk about the works. If I didn't know any better I think you were some American spy. But we both know you're too stupid for that."

"I don't know, I think I would make a great spy." The young man said weakly coughing up some more blood at the end of his sentence.

"Too think that all these crimes were led by a punk like this… and you seemed to be enjoying every second of it hun?" The detective asked staring down the young man.

" _I was… enjoying it? Everything's hazy…. I can't remember…_ " The young man thought to himself as he tried to catch his breath from the beating he had received earlier.

The detective sighed and shook his head. "You should know your place you damn kid." He said slowly making his way to the young man. He then gestured at one his comrades who promptly uncuffed the young man and stood him up. The detective flashed a clipboard in front of the young man. "Sign here. It's a confession under your name. Joseph Joestar." The detective said smirking.

"Of course, I'll sign it right now." He said jokingly making a weak smile at the detective.

The detective pulled a pen out of his coat pocket and handed it to Joseph. "Don't expect to walk out of here in one piece. One must take full responsibility for their actions, understand?" The detective asked getting in Joseph face and staring him down.

Joseph took the pen and looked at the paper on the clipboard. His vision was still blurry and he could barely read what was printed. He did catch a few words, but nothing concrete. He smirked as he signed the paper handing it back to the detective.

The detective took the clipboard and looked at the signature, _Josef Jostare_ was signed at the bottom. The detective gritted his teeth and looked back at Joseph who had his chin resting in the palm of his hand. "Tricked you~." Joseph said with a wide smirk on his face.

The detective stood up and brought up his fist ready to hit Joseph in the face when there was a knock at the door. "Niijima from the prosecutor's office is here." A voice from the other end of the door said.

The detective stopped himself and turned to the door, "You're kidding right? We have everything under control here. Tell Niijima to go somewhere else." The detective responded.

"Can't do sir. Orders from the top. She gets time to interrogate the criminal." The voice responded.

The detective made an audible scoff as he turned back to Joseph. "Run along now." Joseph said mocking the detective. In response the detective kicked Joseph hard in the stomach.

"Don't get comfortable kid. I'll be back." The detective said narrowing his eyes at Joseph.

"I doubt it." Joseph said wheezing from the kick.

The other two detectives grabbed Joseph by the shoulder and dropped him into the chair. "Wait right here." The detective said all three exited the room. There was a brief moment of silence before the door opened and a tall silver haired woman in a business suit walked in. She took a seat opposite Joseph and put down the stack of flies she was holding.

She looked at Joseph for a moment and then looked away, "Why am I not surprised it's you." Niijima said sighing to herself.

"Miss me already? Can't blame you." Joseph said weakly trying to put some charm into his words but failing.

"You're going to be answering my questions this time. No fooling around." Niijima said looking right into Joseph eyes staring him down.

Joseph felt his entire body go up in smoke with each passing second, she stared at him. Instead of of his usually playful demeanor he simply nodded.

Niijima was about to start her interrogation when something blinded her left eye. She looked towards the source of the shine and found an empty needle sitting on the floor. "Those bastards…" Niijima said scowling at the thought of using drugs on a child.

"You're still in there right?" Niijima asked causing Joseph to nod his head. "Good. Now as I'm sure you're aware anything can happen in here… and I can't stop them." She said quickly glancing at the needle. "That's why I need you to answer my honestly. I don't have that much time either.

"What was your objective? Why did you cause such a major incident?" Niijima asked. "I knew it wasn't a prank from the beginning but I couldn't assemble a case from prosecution. It's because I couldn't figure out a method behind it." She said resting her elbows on her legs waiting for a response from Joseph. Deep down she was hoping for a real answer, not another cocky one liner but with him? It was impossible to tell.

Joseph was silent for a moment. He put his elbow in the table and held his head in place with his hand. It was clear that despite his earlier cocky attitude that he was tired. He was sweating profusely and there was still a bit of wet blood running down his lips and the side of his head. "Of course you couldn't…." Joseph weakly respond.

Niijima laughed softly. Of course he would respond like that. "True." She said quickly moving on. "There's no way I could be convinced of such a… 'world' just by reading the reports." She said. "It seems you coherent enough."

"When and where did you find out about that world? How is it even possible to steal another's person's heart?" Niijima asked switching back to prosecutor mode and firing off questions at Joseph. "Now tell me your account of everything. Start from the very beginning."

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Joseph looked up. Just above his head was a blue butterfly with translucent wings. The butterfly gently flew past his head before disappearing from sight once more.

"... You are held captive." A mysterious voice said to Joseph, one he didn't recognize. "Prisoner of fate to a future that has been sealed in advance. Doomed to a bloodline forever tied to misery. This is truly a unjust game… your chances of winning are almost none. But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you…" The voice continued to state.

The butterfly once again reappeared and floated in front of Joseph, the sight of the butterfly alone seemed to calm his spirits. Putting him at an ease he had never felt before. "... I beg you. Please overcome this game… and save the world. The key to victory lies within the memoires of your bonds- the truth you and your friends grasped."

Joseph didn't understand what was going on. Who was speaking to him right now? Why? "It all began that day… when the game was started half a year ago…" The mysterious voice said. "For the sake of your world's future… as well as your own… you must remember…"

The butterfly began to fly towards the top of the room before disappearing once more and Joseph closed his eyes, retracing his steps and the day this all started.

* * *

 _ **4/9/17:**_

"I said are you listening Joseph?" An older male voice said waking Joseph up from his daze.

"Hun? Yeah I was listening Uncle Speedwagon." Joseph responded leaning further back in his chair.

The older gentleman sitting next to Joseph was Robert E.O. Speedwagon, but most people called him Speedwagon. He nearing his late sixties had had several liver spots along his hands and arms. Despite his older age, his features were still very strong with dark brown eyes that compared to solid oak. Speedwagon was dressed like a gentleman, a worn but still fashionable black hat, a dark blue suit with matching pink bow tie, and a pair of dark blue slacks with black dresses shoes.

Joseph on the other hand was slightly muscular and rather tall for his age. He had dark brown hair that somehow spiked upwards but also spiked downwards near the back of his head. The most prominent feature of his hair however where three strands of hair that stuck together and spiked upwards a few inches away from his face. He bad light blue eyes like the banks of a lake with strong facial features that made him look like his face was drawn with a thick ink pen. Although he wished he wasn't, Joseph was forced to wear the Shujin Academy uniform. It consisted of white turtleneck and a black suit top with large dark red buttons running down the side. Joseph of course refused to button up his suit and so he could make his own design on the turtleneck. He had stitched in the word ' _JoJo_ ' was on the chest area of the shirt in bright yellow font with two yellow stars in the middle of each ' _O_ '. He finished off his uniform with a pair of red, gray, and black patchwork pants that reach down to the top of his black and white shoes.

This young man's full name was Joseph Joestar, but he preferred to be called JoJo as he found it catchy and more appealing to women (that's what he thought at least). Joseph had an interesting yet tragic background. He never knew either one of his parents, his father had died in an airplane accident. His mother had died to disease before Joseph had even turned two. Growing up an orphan was hard for Joseph so he quickly latched onto the only family he had left, his Grandmother Erina Joestar. As Joseph grew older he was introduced to Robert E.O. Speedwagon who would later call his uncle and grow a close bond with the older gentlemen who had been friends with the Joestar family for what seemed like forever.

Joseph often traveled the globe with his uncle Speedwagon who was a wealthy oil tycoon. Due to this and Erina's tutoring Joseph had learned a several languages including, Italian, Arabic, French, and even Japanese. A few months earlier Speedwagon told Joseph he was going to Japan and asked if Joseph wanted to come along. At first Joseph told Speedwagon, ' _Why would I ever want to go to Japan? It's crowded and I hate the food_ ' which earned him a verbal lashing from Erina causing Joseph to go with Speedwagon to Japan in order to escape more verbal lashings. While Joseph wasn't enjoying his time in Japan, he learned a lot about the culture and the people much to Speedwagon's pleasure. This were going fine until last month when Joseph had gotten himself into trouble with a Japanese politician.

If a foreigner was found in trouble with a Japanese politician it would quickly spell the end of them and a lengthy jail time would ensue. However, Speedwagon was influential around the world mostly thanks to the goodwill of the Speedwagon foundation, an organization devoted to benefiting humanity through acts of charity. So, after some time, it was decided Joseph would be spending a year in Japan to not only show his goodwill towards the nation but to prove that he wouldn't get into any more trouble and that jail time was unnecessary. Which is why we he currently enrolled in Shujin Academy for the next year and spending the year with a Japanese household.

"I still don't get it Uncle Speedwagon, why can't I just rent an apartment or something and live there for the next year?" Joseph asked placing his chin in his hand and sighing deeply. Joseph was adamant to the fact he would have to stay with a stranger for a whole year. He was very particular about his lifestyle and didn't need some stranger telling him how to live.

Speedwagon sighed deeply. He loved Joseph like a son but sometimes the boy was simply too much for him to handle. Especially in his older age. "How many times must we go over this Joseph. You know the rules about your next year here." Speedwagon said reprimanding Joseph for his lack of attention.

"Yeah, stay out of trouble and kiss the ground off all the adults I pass by." Joseph said with a sarcastic tone and grunting lightly in disapproval. Joseph hated the fact all these adults always had to lord over him. He thought it was bad in America but to him it was even worse in Japan.

Speedwagon sighed once more not sure how to respond to Joseph's attitude. Speedwagon wasn't sure what Joseph so unruly in his life. Joseph treated all types of authority with such disdain. The only people he seemed to respect was Erina and his friend Smokey. And Speedwagon to a lesser extent. "Joseph…." Speedwagon said ready to explain once again why Joseph should be thankful that he wasn't in jail when the train's speakers came to life. ' _Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for riding with us today. We will be arriving in Shibuya shortly. This is the last stop for this line, please transfer her for all subway lines.'_

Joseph stood up grabbing his bag from under his seat. "Well this is my stop." He said looking out the window once last time as the train entered a tunnel blocking out the sunlight. "Don't worry Uncle Speedwagon. I promise Granny Erina I wouldn't cause any more trouble and I intend to keep that promise, no matter how hard it may seem." Joseph said speaking seriously for once and almost whispering the last part.

Speedwagon nodded, it wasn't much but he hoped Joseph would at least keep his promise to Erina. As the train arrived at the station the speakers came alive once again, ' _The doors to your left will now open_ ' and on cue the doors opened. Joseph watched as most of the other passengers walked off the train and onto the platform. But for a brief moment Joseph paused as he looked back at Speedwagon. Joseph had a sense of longing in his eyes as he looked at Speedwagon. Before Speedwagon could ask Joseph about this Joseph stepped out of the train with the doors closing behind him.

Speedwagon leaned back in his seat closing his eyes for a brief moment. "I wish him luck… I truly do."

As Joseph looked around the platform he noticed two girls gossiping. "What are you for real? A mental shutdown?" One of the girls said almost laughing.

"It's the truth." The other girl responded gripping her phone as if she was reading an online article.

The girl lightly laughed, "To a person though? It's got to be joke. You really love that occult stuff don't you?"

Joseph frowned almost grinding his teeth. He hated girls like this, who did nothing but talk and fill the air with their annoying voice. Joseph decided it was time to shut them up. He stumbled forward in front of the two girls causing them to abruptly end their conversation. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation please go on." Joseph said shooting them both a dirt look.

The two girls didn't respond, only staring at the massive Englishman in front of them. "What? Nothing more to say?" Joseph said leaning in and cupping his ear with his hand. Again, Joseph received no response. "Then I'll be on my way." He said turning heel and heading towards the stairs.

"That was kind of scary." One of the girls whispered thinking Joseph was out of earshot.

"I didn't know foreigners could be so rude!" The other girl said stomping her foot.

Joseph shook his head as he made his way to the top of the stairs and to what he knew as central station square. It was bustling with people moving in all sorts of directions. Despite the chaos there seemed to be an order to it as no one bumped into each other or caused a scene. Joseph was a bit scared at the autonomy of the square. It was too uniformed for him. It was almost creepy how the people seemed to move without looking where they were going.

As Joseph contemplated the square he heard a quiet beep come from his phone. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned. It was the app again. Ever since he had arrived in Japan every so often a weird app downloaded on his phone. It was a black eye against a red background with several odd spikes sticking out of the eye. Joseph felt like he had deleted the apps countless times since he arrived but it always seemed to come back. He had even gone as far as to buy a new phone but the app keeps coming back.

Joseph tapped the icon trying to delete it once again but something odd happened, something that had never happened before. The app took up the entire screen as Joseph looked around him. Everything seemed to be slowing down, the people, the sound, even the wind was no longer blowing. Suddenly everything stopped. No one in the entire square moved a muscle, all expect for Joseph.

Joseph was too shocked to even say a word as he started to panic, looking around for any kind of movement to prove he wasn't going insane. Joseph then saw something out of the corner of his eye, a giant blue flame. Joseph turned and found a massive blue fire at blazing at the edge of the crowd. The fire grew in size before it seemed to take on a human shape with two massive wings near its side. Joseph looked closer at the human like figure as it three oranges flamed sprouted up near the face. The orange fire formed a pair of eyes and a mouth that menacingly smiled at Joseph. Suddenly for a brief second, he saw himself in the fire grinning widely back at himself, his eyes now glowing a bright yellow.

Joseph jumped back in surprise almost letting out a yelping bumping into a passing by businessman. "Hey watch where you're going!" The man shouted walking away. "Damn foreigners not paying attention…" The man mumbled as Joseph looked around. Time no longer seemed to be frozen as the crowd continued to bustle around him.

' _What was that…_ ' Joseph thought to himself as he looked at his phone again the app shrinking down in size to a icon. Joseph dragged the icon to the bottom of his phone deleting it once again. Joseph wasn't sure what had happened or what he had even saw. A giant blue flame? How come no one saw it? And why did everyone stop moving? But most importantly, was that really him grinning like that?

Joseph put these thoughts in the back his head as he looked at his phone again pulling up directions to his location. Joseph followed the directions to another train heading to Yongen-Jaya. Joseph took the train all the way to the station and then stepped out. Joseph checked his phone again as he warned the station making sure he was going in the right direction. Joseph did his best to navigate the busy city until he found himself in the backstreet. ' _Is this really the right place?_ ' Joseph asked himself as he looked around. ' _I'm looking for a Sojiro Sakura. His house should be somewhere nearby according to my phone.'_

Joseph looked down the narrow street until he spotted a officer standing near by a grocery store. Joseph never liked police officers, they were often rude to him back in New York and if he hadn't intervened for Smokey that one time his best friend could have been shot. Regardless Joseph needed to find Sojiro, so talking to this cop would be his best bet. Joseph sheepishly walked up to the officer, "Hello officer!" Joseph said grabbing the policeman's attention.

The policeman was an older gentleman with a scowl on his face. "Yes, what is it? Can't find your way back to your hotel?" The officer asked clearly upset that Joseph was bothering him.

"No, nothing like that. I'm actually looking for a family friend who supposedly lives nearby. His name is Sojiro Sakura." Joseph said keeping calm but clenching his fist hard and trying his best not to punch the officer in the face. Joseph showed the policeman his phone and the address he was looking for.

"Oh, you're looking for Sojiro-san! His house is in the alley a bit further back. Take a right after the apartment with the stairs." The officer said his entire attitude changing at the mention of Sojiro name.

Joseph nodded. "Thank you very much." He said heading down the alley towards the location the officer gave him.

Joseph continued to walk down the alley with his hands in his pockets. Of course, he got the occasional stare from some passing bystanders, it was certainly odd to find a giant of a Englishman walking down the streets of a residential neighborhood. Despite how tall he was he was still rather young, only 17 years old. Most foreigners and tourist would stick to the more commercial parts of the city, avoiding places like this.

"He's so tall!"

"Where do you think he's from?"

"Mommy's who's that?"

Joseph heard the voices of the onlooker's whisper as he passed them by. His Japanese wasn't always perfect but he understood enough to know when people were talking about him. It was the way they would look away as they talked, trying to avoid eye contact. Joseph ignored the voices though, he didn't really care what they were saying.

Joseph took a right at the apartment with the stairs and found his desired location. He came to a shabby two-story house with a stone fence. Joseph looked at the metal nameplate to make sure he had the right house and sure enough the nameplate read 'Sakura'.

"Hello! Anyone home?" Joseph shouted despite the fact he had already rung the bell. "It's very rude to keep your guest waiting like this!" Joseph shouted again tapping his foot as he waited for a response. After a few minutes and receiving nothing but silence Joseph had a feeling no one was going to answer the door.

' _Maybe he's gone out?_ ' Joseph thought trying to find an explanation as to why no one was answering the door. He was so wrapped up in his thought he didn't notice a voice coming from the street to his left.

"Looks like no one's home…" The voice said causing Joseph to perk up and listen in on the voice. The voice belonged to a deliveryman holding a box. "Oh yeah… Sakura-san's usually at his cafe around this time." The deliveryman said to himself. "Well Leblanc's in the back alley so I should make my other delivers first…"

' _Jackpot_ ' Joseph thought to himself and smiling a bit. Turning around he headed back into the alley. If Joseph remembered correctly he remembered seeing a cafe on his phone's map. It was right around the corner from where that officer was standing if he remembered correctly.

Joseph made his way back to the officer turning on the corner. He only had to walk a few feet before finding his destination. He found a hole in the wall cafe with potted plants outside the shuttered window. The cafe had stripped canvas with the words, 'Coffee & Curry' and the name of the cafe underneath 'Leblanc'. Joseph was a bit confused on several fronts. First, coffee and curry? Japan had some weird taste in food but for Joseph that made no sense! Something bitter with something spicy? Where's the flavor in that? Shrugging his shoulders, he grabbed the door handle and walked inside the face.

The first thing he noticed about the cafe was how small it was. There were three booths along the wall with an old plastic table in between each booth. To his left was a bar with four old wooden chairs. Behind the bar was several shelves of glass containers full of coffee beans, each one having a different label. Further behind the bar was a small kitchen with a stove and blue refrigerator. Several glass stained lamps hung from the ceiling and a cold wooden floor beneath Joseph's feet. In the furthest corner of the cafe was a small stand and a small T.V. playing the news. Overall if Joseph had to describe the cafe… it was simple. Nothing too fancy.

Sitting in the middle booth was an old couple drinking a cup of coffee each. Joseph didn't concern himself with them though, he was more interested at the man sitting at the counter. He was middle aged man with a receding hairline. Despite this his dark black hair was slicked back with a chin strapped bear that had a goat that seemingly flared out. He wore a bright pink button up shirt with pale khaki. He had white loafers on with a striped apron over his shirt. The top button of his shirt was undone and he rolled back the sleeves on his shirt to his elbows. The man had on a pair of thin frame glasses that took up the majority of his face. His face was long with a pointed nose and what looked like a permanent scowl on his lips. His eyes were slightly baggy and with a light gray hue to them. He was hunched over a newspaper while the T.V. played a new report.

"A public transit bus was driven down and opposing lane with its customers still inside it! The citizens can't live in peace if this keeps up." The reporter on the news said.

The elderly man at the booth shook his head at the news. "How frightening." He said looking at the older woman across from him.

"What could be going on? Didn't something similar happen just the other day?" The old lady responded clearly frightened by the news.

Joseph did hear about incidents happening like this lately. Odd occurrences were people would simply break down and commit horrible acts. Some even went as far as to murder their loved ones. Joseph shuddered at the thought of something like that effecting either Speedwagon or Granny Ernia.

Joseph was snapped out of his thoughts when the man at the counter began to mumble something, "Vertical is… the name of a selfish used for farming pearls…."

"Oysters." Joseph responded.

The man at the counter looked up a bit surprised by Joseph's answer. "It's oysters. Pearls are often found in oysters." Joseph stated again.

The man at the counter put the newspaper away and sighed, "That's right, he told me you would be here today." He said shaking his head.

The older couple stood up putting some money on the table. "We'll be going on. The payments on the table."

"Thanks for coming." The manager responded.

"This place is in the back alley, so there's no worry about a car crashing in here." The older man said jokingly.

"A what now?" The manager asked confused by the joke.

"There's been a string those rampage accidents, you know. I just hope none happen around here." The older man said clarifying his joke.

"It's none of my concern." The manager said crossing his arms.

The older gentleman laughed in response. "We'll see you next time." He said slowly shuffling out of the cafe followed by his wife.

As soon as they left the manager let out a deep sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. "Four hours for just a single cup of joe." He said clearly frustrated. He then turned to Joseph getting a good look at him. "So, you're Joseph right?" He asked.

"That's me. So that must make you Sojiro Sakura-san." Joseph responded.

"That's right. For the next year you'll be under my custody. Speedwagon told me you might be a bit unruly so he gave me the phone number to your Grandmother, said if you give me any lip give her a call." Sojiro said chuckling a bit as he stroked his goatee.

Joseph went pale as he felt sweat began to form on the back of his neck. He internally cursed Speedwagon, he was playing dirty.

"Just so you know I'm only taking you in as a favor to Speedwagon. So don't try to act cute or anything." Sojiro said sternly staring Joseph down. "Now, follow me." He said turning around and heading towards the stairs near the back of the cafe.

Joseph nodded and followed Sojiro climbing the narrow steps up to the top. When he arrived he was shocked by what he saw. He found a small room covered in dirt, cobwebs, and dust. There were only two sources of light coming from a pair of dimly light bulbs that illuminated the room. In the corner was a small bed with a old beaten up blanket covering it. In the opposite corner seemed to be some sort of desk covered in a plastic wrap that had several books laying underneath. To Joseph's right was a disorganized bookshelf full do what looked like moldy books, gas canisters, and what even looked like a house plant covered in all the trash. To his left was a small two-seater couch and another desk covered in trash bags. In the middle of the room were two boxes each labeled with the Speedwagon corporation logo. Joseph felted depressed just walking into the room.

"This is your room." Sojiro said before turning to Joseph who was stunned silent. "I'll at least give you sheets for your bed."

Joseph mouth was now hanging open his faced covered in shock and disbelief. He wasn't doing a good job at covering up the fact he was disgusted by the room. Sojiro picked up on Joseph's attitude and sighed, "Something wrong?" He asked already knowing what the answer was.

"Of course there's something wrong! How the hell do you expect to live in this!" Joseph shouted.

"Keep your voice down fool!" Sojiro said shaking his head. "I agreed to house you but there's nowhere to sleep at my place. This was the best option. I cleaned up a bit but I don't have time for the rest, that's on you." Sojiro said spelling everything out for Joseph.

Joseph was shocked that this place was somehow even dirtier than when he arrived. Joseph had a feeling that all Sojiro had done to clean up the place was move a few things aside. "Alright listen up I'm gonna explain the rules of living here. You can't leave after I lock up each day, it would be a pain in my ass knowing you were off who knows where with the store left open like that. And don't trying anything funny in the cafe, if I find one thing off I'll throw your ass out got it?" Sojiro said looking at Joseph for a response.

Joseph balled up his fist, clenching hard to hold himself back from shouting at Sojiro. This was who he was supposed to be spending a year with? A grouchy old man who wouldn't know kindness if it crawled down his throat? Joseph relaxed his fist and simply nodded, it was the only thing he could to keep his anger in check.

"Now then… I got the gist of your situation. You were protecting some woman from a man forcing himself on her, he got injured, then sued you. Right?"

' _Not even close disphit!_ ' Is what Joseph wanted to say. How could Speedwagon still not understand what had truly happened? Is this what he was telling people about it? That he was dumb kid who had hurt someone trying to play hero?

"Well that's what you get for sticking your nose into a matter between two adults. You're lucky you know Speedwagon or it could have been much worse. Honestly what were you thinking? Getting into a fight with a political leader in a foreign country? Are all American kids that stupid?" Sojiro asked shaking his head in disappointment. In his mind Joseph was an arrogant, self-righteous, teenager who didn't understand how the world works and had been coasting on Speedwagon's success his whole life.

Joseph began to grind his teeth, a habit he had apparently picked up from his Grandfather who would do the same when he was mad. Joseph wasn't hitting idiots who would only run their mouth and didn't know a thing about him! ' _I'll show you a big stupid American!_ ' Joseph thought visualizing himself hitting Sojiro with a sly right hook.

But he couldn't, Joseph was mad but no matter how bad things got he wasn't stupid. He understood his situation better than anyone else. Pissing off Sojiro by something would make his situation worse. He had to be cool and collected, which was sometimes easier said than done. Joseph simply nodded, "That's right, it was a stupid mistake. Next time I hear a woman screaming for help I'll just keep walking like a good kid." Joseph responded with a hint of sarcasm.

Sojiro frowned, "That kind of attitude won't get you anywhere you know. Just keep your head and behave yourself for the next year and your probation will be lifted. You can go back to America and never bother me again."

For once Joseph agreed with Sojiro one hundred percent. Keep his head down for a year and never come back to this shity country for the rest of his life! "Don't worry, I'll the poster child for well-behaved delinquents." Joseph said jokingly.

Sojiro sighed, he was going to have to put up with this for a whole year? Deep down Sojiro was already regretting saying yes when Speedwagon asked if he could watch Joseph for a year. "Don't forgot, were going to Shujin tomorrow so make sure you set your alarm." Sojiro said crossing his arms.

Joseph had heard a bit about Shujin from Speedwagon. Apparently, it was fancy Japanese high school that only accepted the best. But after a donation from the Speedwagon foundation it was decided to increase cultural sensitivity the school would allow a foreign exchange student for the year. Beyond that Joseph knew nothing about the school expect he had to a wear a uniform, which he had already given his personal style too.

"Honestly you must be the luckiest kid on the world. Having Speedwagon save you every time you mess up. You better count your blessing." Sojiro said shaking his head. "What a waste of my Sunday…"

"I'm sorry I wasted your precious Sunday. It won't happen again I promise." Joseph said dryly offering a weak apology at best and an insult at the worst.

Sojiro couldn't stand another minute with this brat. "Your luggage arrived earlier. I'm going back to the Cafe. Don't come back downstairs unless you're dying, about to die, or your room is on fire." He said walking past Joseph and heading back downstairs.

Joseph sighed as he looked at the room. It was going to be hard work cleaning this place up and if there any two words Joseph hated it was 'Hard Work' and 'Work Hard'. Sighing heavily Joseph rolled up his sleeves and began to get to work, all the while cursing whatever star we he was born under.

* * *

Joseph sat down on his bed exhausted from his work. He was so exhausted he didn't even hear Sojiro climb the stairs and enter his room. When Sojiro arrived, he found the room somewhat cleaner than he had earlier. Most of the dust and cobwebs were gone and the floor wasn't covered in dirt anymore. The bed was made and the windows were no longer covered in a thick dust. Sojiro was impressed, he was honestly expecting Joseph to simply let things remain a mess. He didn't seem like the type to clean anything.

"I heard you making a bunch of noise upstairs but I didn't think you were cleaning." Sojio said stroking his goatee light.

"Well what can I say? I like to keep people on their toes." Joseph responded with a wide smirk on his face.

Sojiro took another look around. "Honestly, it doesn't look that bad. But I think you've done enough for the day. Why don't you head off to bed? We have a early morning tomorrow." Sojiro said.

Joseph was about to say something but stopped himself. Sojiro was right, he was tired and going to sleep sounded like heaven to him. He just had to shower and change first. "Sounds good. Where's the bathroom?" Joseph asked standing up.

Sojiro pointed behind him to the stairs, "It's the only door on the second floor. You can't miss it." Sojiro turned back around about to head down the stairs, "I'm going to close up shop and head home." He said heading downstairs back into the cafe.

Joseph grabbed his bag and followed Sojiro instruction heading to the bathroom. The first thing he noticed was how small it was. Joseph had to duck just to get inside the bathroom. Joseph sighed, this was another problem he had with Japan. He was a tall dude and he worked out enough to be fit. But everything in Japan was designed for someone half his height and build. It was annoying. Joseph took a quick shower and brushed his teeth, changing into his pajamas for the night. While he like fashion at night he didn't care what he wore. A simple pair of soft cotton pants and a large t shirt was enough for him.

Joseph headed back to his room and collapsed on his bed. He sighed deeply and he leaned back into his hands. _'Arrested for a crime I didn't commit. It's like something out of a bad action movie._ ' He thought to himself as he tried to sleep. However, when he closed he saw the man again. The man who almost ruined his life. The way he had looked at Joseph with such hate…. It still scared Joseph to this day.

Joseph closed his eyes and thought back to that day. He was heading back to the hotel after going out that night. He wanted to try some of the local food and as he headed back he heard the screams of a woman. At first Joseph keep walking, this wasn't his problem he didn't even know the voice of the woman screaming. But as he walked his steps got slower and slower, he felt something burning in inside of him. He felt heavy and at the same time weak. He had sighed deeply and began to run towards the sound to the woman screaming. When he had arrived, he found a drunk man trying to push the woman into the car. That's when he had intervened…. When he….

Joseph opened his eyes and sighed deeply. Why was he thinking about this? What was the point? No matter what he told the cops they didn't believe him. Heck, Speedwagon was criticizing Joseph for getting involved and getting hot headed. The only one who believed him was Granny Erina.

Joseph was brought back to reality when his phone went off. ' _Again!_ ' Joseph thought pulling his phone out of his pocket and not surprised to find the app on his phone once again. He sighed and quickly deleted it. He didn't want to deal with that today, his day was stressful enough as it was.

Joseph finally decided to close his eyes for good this time. He had enough of this day. Pulling the covers over his body Joseph relaxed as he finally let go and fell asleep.

* * *

Suddenly Joseph opened his eyes again as the sound of something clicking had woken up. However, when Joseph woke up he wasn't in the cafe. He wasn't anywhere close to that. He was in a padded room with velvet cushion. He was sleeping on a cold steel bench and felt something heavy on his wrists and ankles. The room was dimly lit and it took a bit for Joseph to adjust to the light and when he finally had he noticed a pair of heavy iron shackles around his wrists.

"What the hell…." Joseph mumbled to himself as he slowly stood up confused about everything. He had so many questions. Where was he? How did he get here? Why he wearing prisoners' clothes? Why was he in a padded jail cell?

Joseph train of thought was interrupted by a low chuckle. Joseph turned towards the source of the noise and almost gasped at what he saw. Two blond little girls, with their hair tied into buns and dressed in velvet guard outfits appeared from seemingly nowhere in front of the bars. They both looked no older than six or seven and barely came up to Joseph's knees. Each one had an eyepatch on one of their eyes, one had an eyepatch on their left eye while the other had an eyepatch on the right eye. Embroider on the eyepatch as an elegant letter 'V' in gold print. As Joseph stood up and walked towards the bars of the cell the girls moved closer together until they were standing right next to each other. Joseph shuddered, it was like something out a horror movie.

Joseph walked up to the bars and tried to move further but was stopped in his tracks. Around his ankle was another iron cuffed, this time attached to a heavy iron ball, preventing him from moving any further.

Joseph looked further past the two girls and saw something odd. Something almost… otherworldly. Beyond his cell was a circular room and in the middle of the room was a massive velvet rug with the same embroidery as on the two girl's eyepatches. On top of the rug was a small desk with a stack of papers, a quill and ink pot, and a small desk lamp.

However, there was someone sitting behind the desk. Someone who sent chills down Joseph's back just by looking at him. He was an older man with a balding head and white hair on the side of his head that reached down to his shoulders. He had massive pair of pointed ears and a long nose almost shaped like a beck that pointed several inches away from his face. His black eyebrows were massive and his eyes were even worse, seemingly popping out his head and the veins in his eyes popping out as well. He had a massive grin on his face but it almost looked forced on his face. While the top half of his body was short his legs were long and skinny, making up the majority of his body. His legs were so long in fact they pushed out from the floor and beyond the desk. He wore a black suit with a white handkerchief in the breast pocket along with a pair of white gloves.

The man gestured out to Joseph from his desk, "Trickster… Welcome to my Velvet room."

* * *

 _ **Hello there! Thanks for reading my first ever story. If you have any questions, critiques, or simply want to tell me something please feel free to leave a review. Again, thank you very much for reading my story!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

Joseph blinked for a moment. Unsure of what this person was saying. "I'm sorry what did you call me?" Joseph asked gripping the iron bars of his prison. "And where the hell am I? Who are yo-" Joseph began to shout before being interrupted by the sound of banging metal.

One of the blond twins had slammed her baton on the bars of the cell in an effort to silence Joseph. "Oh, I see you've come too inmate. You're a lively one aren't you?' The twin on the right said, her voice dripping with attitude.

"The you in reality is currently fast asleep." The twin on the left said, his was voice a bit more robotic and almost melancholy. "You are only experiencing this as a dream."

Joseph leaned in between the bars trying to fit his head through, "I don't know what the hell is going on but I'm getting out of here!" He shouted trying to twist his body in order to get through the bars of the cell. But despite his best efforts he couldn't get his body through.

The twin on the right slammed the bars again, "You're in the presence of our master. Stand up straight!" She shouted pointing her baton at the older man sitting at the desk.

"Welcome. I am delighted to make your acquaintance." The old man at the desk said, his voice deep like a dark trench. It almost seemed to echo through the room and even into Joseph's very being, shaking his insides which each word. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room only that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter."

"I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well." Igor said tapping his long-gloved fingers at the desk.

"Hi Igor I'm Joseph Joestar and when I get out of here I'm going to kick your ass!" Joseph said in a calm matter before getting riled up and trying to grab Igor through the bars of the cell.

"I know all about you Joestar and your role in this world. I wish to speak with you about important matters. It involves your life as well." Igor said chuckling slightly.

Joseph stopped for a moment, he pulled his hands back and looked at Igor. Sweat began to form on the back of his neck. Joseph was good at reading people, it had always been a good trick of his. This time… he couldn't tell anything. The man moved with such nonchalant that Joseph couldn't even tell if Igor even had any emotions.

Joseph gulped, "My life? What are you going to do with it?" He asked hoping to get more information out of Igor. Hopefully he could find some sort of weakness in Igor and use it to escape his cell. Maybe poke his pride? Make him so angry he sees red? For now, Joseph would have to sit back and play things safe.

"Though I must say I am surprised…" Igor continued looking around the room ignoring Joseph's question. "The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such. Thing again, maybe a prison is more appropriate for one of the Joestar's."

Joseph tilted his head in frustration. He couldn't make heads or tails of this man. What is he going on about? What did he want from Joseph? Why did he have such a fixation with his last name. He admitted it was a bit odd but not enough to lock him up in a prison with no explanation for.

"In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you." Igor continued.

"Ruin? What kind of ruin?" Joseph asked feeling himself sweat more and more, losing his calm composure.

"I speak of the end to everything. However, there is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be 'rehabilitated'. Rehabilitated towards freedom…" Igor said trailing off at the end of his sentence. "That is your only means to avoid ruin."

"I wonder. Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world? Or will your fate bring you nothing more than you deserve?" Igor asked stretching a hand forward towards Joseph, waiting for a response.

Joseph blinked. And then blinked again. He couldn't understand any of it. What was Igor talking about? Was he about to be killed? Was Igor testing him? If he gave a wrong answer would he be left to rot for the rest of his life? In times like these Joseph knew he could only do one thing, stand up and show no fear. If he was gonna die, then he was gonna do it right. "The only thing I know is that I am going to get out of here. I will avoid this whole ruin thing and when it's all over? I'm going to kick your ass." Joseph said smirking.

Igor began to chuckle loudly. "How interesting. It seems the will of the Joestar burns bright in your heart. Ah, ponder me for not introducing the others."

As if on cue the two twins turned on heel and stood up straight as if they had been given a command by a superior. "To your right is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They serve as wardens here."

Caroline laughed, "Hmph, try and struggle as hard as you like."

"The duties of wardens are to protect inmates. We are also your collaborates. That is… if you remain obedient." Justine said interrupting her twin.

"I shall explain the roles of these two at another occasion." Igor said. "Now then, it seems the night is waning… It is almost time."

"Time? Time for what?" Joseph asked. He wasn't expecting an answer at this point but he at least had to try with the cryptid Igor.

"Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually…" Igor said before the sound of a ringing alarm echoed through the small room. To Joseph it almost sounded like the ringing of an alarm bell.

"Time's up. Now hurry up and go back to sleep." Caroline said grabbing Joseph's attention.

"Sleep? You expect me too…" Joseph began to say as he felt his body become heavy. His eyes began to waver as his knees became weak. He slowly laid down on the metal bed, unable to hold himself up anymore. He tried to stay awake but his eyes became heavy. Soon his eyes were closed and his whole world blacked out.

* * *

 _ **4/10/17**_

Joseph woke up in a cold sweat. He slowly rose from his bed as he looked around. No cell, no chains around his wrist, and especially no creepy old men threatening him with the end of his life. Joseph looked at his wrist for a moment. They felt heavy and chafed a bit. Perhaps he had slept on them wrong?

Joseph sighed and jumped out of bed beginning his morning stretches. While he didn't like to work out too often he thought it was important to do daily stretches, just to stay healthy. After finishing his stretches, he made his way to the bathroom and got into the shower. He began him morning routine all the while thinking about what had happened to him.

The jail felt to real to him. The cold air on his skin, the chains that chafed his arms, and he could even remember what the old man had told him. But had it really happened? Where did he go last night? How did he get there? Would he go back any time soon?

His experience in the jail cell was starting to put him into a bad mood. His brain fumed with ideas as he got dressed in his school uniform. It was the same as the one he had worn yesterday except this time he wanted to wear his lucky scarf. His lucky scarf was stripped green and yellow, reaching down to his waist. He had gotten his scarf from Granny Erina and wore it whenever he was feeling bad or nervous. After last night and what he had went through? The scarf seemed appropriate.

Joseph was lacing up his boots on the bed when Sojiro walked into his room and found him scowling. Sojiro sighed, "Don't tell me you're gonna complain about the bed." He said adjusting his hat.

Sojiro was dressed in his casual clothes. Unlike his work clothes, Sojiro put a white button up shirt over his pink work shirt. He wore the same tan pants as before but this time he was wearing white dress shoes. Sojiro was also wearing a white hat with red and blue lines running along the trim. Although Joseph didn't particularly like Sojiro he did like fashion and was secretly impressed by Sojiro wardrobe.

"No, I just wanted to complain about everything else. About my life and my stupid decisions. Oh darn, if only I was smarter, older, and handsome like you Sojiro-san." Joseph said mockingly placing his chin in his hand while looking down in a melancholy way.

Sojiro sighed, he felt like he was going to be a lot of it while Joseph was around. "Please don't give me any attitude today. I'm driving you to school you know. You could as least be grateful." Sojiro said.

"Oh of course. Thank you very much for this once in a lifetime opportunity. I will be forever grateful." Joseph responded still thinking about his night in the jail cell. No matter what he tried, the memory of the cell was in the back of his mind with each word he spoke.

"You know you should be grateful. Your school's pretty far away from here and the transfers are the pain in the ass. You better enjoy the free ride while you can." Sojiro said snapping back at Joseph. "Now come on, I have other things to do today." He said turning around and heading back downstairs. As he descended the stairs Joseph could hear him mumbling, "Sheesh… Men aren't usually allowed in my passenger seat."

Joseph grumbled a comeback about how he couldn't get any women but it fell on deaf ears. Joseph finished tying up his boots and headed downstairs, his school bag in hand. He followed Sojiro to his car which was a small BMW type car. Joseph opened the passenger side and sat down waiting for Sojiro to do the same. After a few seconds Sojiro sat in the driver's seat and started up the car. Within minutes the two were on the freeway heading towards Shujin Academy.

Joseph looked out the window as they drove. Sojiro had neglected to turn on the radio and wasn't much of a fan of the Japanese radio. He preferred classic rock and Japanese radio wasn't going to be playing anything like that any time soon. So as the two drove in silence Joseph leaned back letting his scarf cover his face. As Joseph's world became a yellow and green tint he couldn't help but think back to the day he had gotten this scarf.

It was after he had gotten kicked out of school, for the third time. However, this time was different. Joseph often had a problem with authority causing him to argue with his teachers, but now it was with a fellow student. It was career day and everyone's parents had come to visit, all expect Joseph's of course. Everyone knew had none to show but when the student sitting next to Joseph made a remake about how he was lucky to have no parents Joseph had snapped. He had jumped out of his seat and began to pummel the other student. It took two teachers to pull Jospeh away. Joseph had remained silent the whole trip home, not speaking a word when Speedwagon had picked him up and told him how it was ungentlemanly like to hurt others.

Erina on the other hand had stayed silent. When Joseph was finally he barely lasted a second before breaking down. He ran into his room and locked the door behind him, sobbing to himself. After an hour of crying Joseph came back out to find Erina sitting by the fire with a green and yellow scarf. Apparently, his mother had knitted it for him when he was a baby. Erina thought it was the perfect time to give it to him. So, Joseph took the scarf and sat by the fire for the rest of the night, keeping himself warm with the hand knitted scarf.

Joseph was so absorbed in his memory he didn't even notice the car stop. "We're here." Sojiro said pulling the keys out of the car. Joseph sat up and pulled his scarf down trying to get look at the school, unfortunately they were too far away to get a good look yet. Joseph followed Sojiro out of the car and to the front of the school were Joseph could get a better look.

It was three large building each one made from concrete and connected by bridges that ran along the second story of each building. Of course, there weren't any students walking around but Joseph had a feeling that even if they were it wouldn't be a happy situation. The building looked more like a prison than a school with a stone wall surrounding the school and tiny windows dotted along the sides of the buildings.

Joseph shrugged his shoulders and was about to make his way up the stairs when Sojiro stopped him. "Before we go in there do me a favor and don't give them attitude. I get it, you a kid who hates where they are but Speedwagon had to pull a lot of strings to get you here. Don't make all that hard work go to waste just because you might be having a bad day. Got it?" Sojiro asked crossing his arms and drilling the point home into Joseph's head.

Joseph nodded, "I swear I won't cause any trouble while I'm here." He said crossing his chest like a boyscout.

Sojiro wasn't sure if Joseph was being serious or not but it was a risk he was going to have to risk regardless. "Hmm… come on. I want to get this over with." Sojiro said walking up the stairs and closely followed by Jospeh.

When the two arrived in the building they were greeted by an odd sight. A pair student were seemingly waiting for them. One was a young girl. She was wearing the female version of the Shujin uniform. It consisted of a black halter vest, the same patchwork as Joseph's pants but as a skirt, black pantyhose, and a long-sleeved white turtleneck shirt under the vest. The young girl was also wearing short brown leather boots that went up to her ankles. She had dark brown hair fashioned into a bob cut, with blunt bangs at the end. She also wore a French style hair band that blended in with her hair, making it look like it was a part of her hair itself. She had odd eyes that seemed to be red but upon closer inspection one could argue that they were reddish brown. She wasn't smiling and had a cold like expression on her face, almost mechanical. Her features were sharp, each one drawing the eyes of any passerby. It looked like she was assembled together rather than born.

To the girl's left was a young man with blond hair. His hair was short and unkempt with long strands of hair coming together to stick out of his head. He was wearing the Shujin academy as well but his was buttoned up. However, he had also some modifications to the uniform like Joseph. He wore two fingerless blue gloves with metal studs on the top of each glove. He also wore a long thin headband with tessellated triangles and was adorned with two feathers on each side of his head. His features were very similar to Joseph as he too was rather tall and looked like his face was drawn with thick ink. Unlike Joseph however, most passing girls would stop to get a better look. His green eyes looked like two shining emerald and glittered in the sun. It even looked like his face was sculpted out of stone to resemble the old Greek statues. He also had two odd triangles like marks on his checks. It was easy to call this young man handsome and already Joseph was upset with him. He looked like a playboy and Joseph hated cocky guys who thought they could get any women (Despite the fact that he often flirted with women to no avail, so it could be said he was more jealous than angry).

The two were standing side by side and clearly having some sort of disagreement, "I told you Caesar we have to be polite." The young girl said.

"It makes no sense to me. Why should we have to be nice to some rich boy? The principal could have easily handled this situation by himself." Caesar responded shaking his head.

"That's not the point. We have to make a good impression regardless of where he comes from. With the Speedwagon foundation watching us we need to keep up our school's reputation if we want to keep receiving donations." The girl responded.

The two were oblivious to Joseph entering and using this, Joseph decided to play a prank. "Hello! It's nice they would send two assistants to come pick me up. My bags are outside and please do hurry I have much to do today. And could someone fetch me a sparkling water? I am simply parched." Joseph said waving his hand to fan himself with a smirk on his face.

His prank was not well received as he quickly earned a slap on the head from Sojiro. "Be quiet idiot!" Sojiro hissed through his teeth. "Ignore him, he thinks he's being funny." Sojiro said trying to repair the situation.

The girl blinked several times before offering a dry and weak laugh. "Right… of course a joke." She said not really believing what she said herself.

Caesar on the other hand crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, clearly unamused by Joseph's joke. "Idiota." Caesar mumbled under his breath closing his eyes and shaking his head.

Sojiro coughed, "Anyways, I'm Sakura Sojiro and this is-" Sojiro was saying before Joseph interrupted him by walking up to the girl.

"It's Joestar, Joseph Joestar. But you can call me Jojo any time you like." He said winking at the girl and giving her a sly smile.

The girl was clearly uncomfortable and looked away, "Right, it's…. Nice to meet you." She responded closing her eyes briefly moment and breathing deeply. "I'm Makoto Niijima the president of the student body. This is the vice-president Caesar Zeppeli."

Caesar gave a small bow to Sojiro but neglected to look at Joseph. "It's a pleasure to meet you sir."

"If you follow Caesar he'll show you to the principal's office Sakura-san. In the meantime, I'll be giving you a tour of our facilities Joestar-san." Makoto said seemingly hesitant about the last part.

Sojiro nodded, "Lead the way." He said looking at Caesar who nodded and began walking away closely followed by Sojiro.

For a brief moment the remaining teens simply started at each other. Now alone, neither one was sure what to say next. Joseph was trying to think of a joke and Makoto was simply nervous. She hadn't heard much about Jospeh up to this point. All she knew was that he was a foreign exchange student and had some sort of connection to the Speedwagon foundation. Beyond that, Joseph was a complete mystery to her. "Shall we begin the tour?" Makoto asked hesitantly.

Joseph nodded, "I'll follow you anywhere beautiful." He said trying his best to sound smooth, even adding a wink at the end. However, all this did was make Makoto even more hesitant about Joseph.

"Right…. This way then." She said turning around and heading towards some of the class. Joseph followed behind her with his hands on the back of his head, trying his best to listen to her explanation about the school. If he was honest he wasn't listening, not because she was boring (though that was part of it), his mind was more preoccupied with his dream last night. Again, he wasn't even sure he could call it that. It was too real to be a figment of his imagination. And then there was what Igor had said, how it was a place between mind and matter. Like that made any more sense to him!

"You stopped listening, haven't you?" Makoto asked snapping Joseph out of his deep thought.

"What? No! I was just…. Appreciating the ceiling! Yeah, it's such a nice ceiling." He said trying to convince Makoto but it was clearly a lie.

Makoto sighed, it seemed that there wasn't much point in giving a tour. If that was the case she at least wanted to learn more about Joseph. It was the least she could do as president of the student body. "Well in that case do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Joseph nodded, he didn't have anything to hide really. His life was a open book as far as he was concerned. "Go for it."

"Why did you come here? There must have been other schools correct? Even then why come to Japan at all? You're originally from America are you not?" Makoto began to assault Joseph with question after question, giving him little time to think. In the span of a few second Makoto had turned the situation into a integration.

"That's a lot to cover isn't it? Well…. I guess the best answer I can give to all your questions is that I wanted a change of pace and this seemed like the best option to me." Joseph responded. Of course, this was a lie. Joseph didn't want to be here and the moment his parole was lifted he would never come back to Japan. But he couldn't let everyone know that he was under parole for a crime. His reputation would be ruined even before he started school.

Makoto thought for a moment placing her fingers on her chin. His story was obviously a lie. But Makoto couldn't figure out why. Joseph didn't seem like a bad guy. From the brief time she has spent with him so far, she found out that he was immature for sure, but a bad guy? That didn't seem right. Makoto decided it was best not to push any further. She would have to accept the answer for now. "I see. Well to save us both some time I suggest we simply go back to the main hall and wait for Sakura-san. If you have any questions about the school I'm sure one of the teachers can help you tomorrow." She said.

Joseph nodded, "Good enough for me. Lead the way ." Joseph said jokingly seeing if Makoto would laugh at his joke. To his dismay Makoto only shook her head in disappointment as she leads him back to main hall.

On the way back however Jospeh noticed a rather tall teacher walking up to them. He unkempt black hair with thick eyebrows. His face was rather square with a broad jaw and even bordered shoulders. He was taller than Joseph, but not by much. He was wearing a white t-shirt with black sports trousers with double white lines running along the sides. Beyond that nothing else really stuck out to Joseph and if he had to guess he was most likely a sport teacher of some kind.

"Oh, good afternoon Kamoshida-san." Makoto said but Joseph noticed that for a brief moment Makoto looked away, unable to make eye contact with him. Joseph was good at reading people and it became too clear to him that for whatever reason Kamoshida make Makoto unconformable. "What are you doing here today?" She asked.

"I'm just checking up on some paperwork for the sports festival coming up. Gotta make sure everything is under control, right?" Kamoshida asked smiling and rubbing the back of his head. His gaze then drifted to Joseph. "Hmm? Have we meet before?" He asked confused by Joseph's presence, he was wearing a Shujin uniform but Kamoshida didn't remember a student like this.

"I'm Joseph Joestar. I just transferred here from America this semester." Joseph said giving Kamoshida a basic answer. Based on Makoto's reaction Jospeh knew for whatever reason Kamoshida should not be trusted. So, until he knew why, Joseph was going to be playing his cards close to his chest.

"Oh yeah I heard about a transfer student coming in this semester. Although…." Kamoshida began to say looking Jospeh up and down. "I didn't think you would be so tall! Are you sure you're a high school student?" He asked jokingly.

"Wouldn't be here if I wasn't." Joseph responded still unsure how to treat Kamoshida just yet.

"Well if you're going to be attending school here you should apply for the volleyball team. I'm the coach and we could definitely use someone with your height on the team." Kamoshida said crossing his arms. For some reason Joseph felt that it was more of a demand than a suggestion.

Joseph shrugged his shoulders, "Well if I can find time I'll see what I can do about trying out for the team. Though I'm not much an athlete, I prefer more intellectual pursuits." He said looking Kamoshida square in the eye. Joseph had chosen his response very carefully. He hadn't insulted the team in any way, but did make a point about how he thought it was a waste of his time. Depending on how Kamoshida reacted it would tell Joseph what his weakness was.

As soon as Joseph stopped speaking, Kamoshida's left twitched just for a moment. And to the unobservant eye it seemed nothing more than a muscle spasm. But Joseph understood exactly what it meant. Kamoshida was offended by what Joseph had said. "Well trust me, we have a good time during practice. Just come by to watch. I'm sure we can convince you to join." Kamoshida said pushing the subject more.

Joseph smirked inwardly. Within the span of a few minutes Jospeh already knew what Kamoshida was about. Kamoshida was clearly a prideful man who didn't take no for an answer. Telling Kamoshida that he wouldn't join the team clearly upset him. Jospeh now understood why Makoto looked away from Kamoshida. No doubt Kamoshida had butted heads with Makoto at some point over something. Based on the way Makoto had looked at Kamoshida, he had won whatever argument they may have had. "I'll try to remember that. Now if you don't mind we have to be somewhere don't we ?" Joseph said looking at Makoto.

Makoto looked at Joseph for a moment clearly annoyed but then quickly understood what Joseph was trying to do. "That's right. We better meet up with everyone else. Please excuse us Kamoshida-san." Makoto said.

Kamoshida nodded, "Alright then. Don't let me hold you back. I'll see you both tomorrow then." He said walking past Joseph and Makoto and further down the hallway.

As soon as he was gone Joseph frowned. "Bit of an arrogant prick, isn't he?" Joseph asked.

Makoto gasped and then frowned. "You can't be saying things like that to teachers here. Kamoshida is a former Olympian and his volleyball team is famous throughout the country." She said defending Kamoshida albeit hesitantly.

"Hmp, doesn't mean he isn't a arrogant prick." Jospeh let out a deep sigh. "Come on, let's just head back and wait for the others."

Makoto nodded and continued to lead Jospeh back to the main hall. While they walked Makoto was forming a new opinion of Joseph. Yes, he was rude. Yes, he was immature. But, she had never seen anyone stand up to Kamoshida like that. She heard that a second year named Ryuji had gotten into a fight with Kamoshida but according to Kamoshida Ryuji had started the fight. Deep down Makoto didn't believe it. She had received a few reports about Kamoshida when she first became president. She had also heard terrible rumors about Kamoshida inviting young female students to… 'private' training sessions. Just when Makoto was starting to build a case against him, all of the complaints suddenly stopped and the ones who had filled them quickly went back on their word.

Without enough evidence or any witnesses Makoto couldn't do anything and gave up on Kamoshida. She wanted to do something to help her fellow students but what could she do? Kamoshida was a teacher and she was nothing more than a student. Makoto was so deep in thought she suddenly felt Joseph pulling her back.

"Hey let go of me!" She shouted turning around and shaking loose of Joseph's grasp. She wanted to slap Jospeh here and now. How could he possibly justify grabbing her like that!

"Hey calm down!" Jospeh shouted back. "Why don't you look in front of you." Joseph said pointing in front of Makoto.

Makoto turned back and looked in front of her. She inches away from one of the glasses door leading into the courtyard. She was so deep in thought she had forgotten where she was. Like an automated machine she had just keep going without thinking. Makoto let out a small cough. "Oh… um… thank you." She said not looking at Joseph as she quickly opened the door and headed into the courtyard.

Joseph crossed his arms. Just thanks? Joseph was going to let her run into the door at first. It would be pretty funny to see the class president running into glass like that. But as much as he wanted to see that he also wanted to make a good impression. She didn't have to scream at him though! Joseph shook his head and followed Makoto into the courtyard and eventually back to the main hall.

When the two arrived back in the main hall they were greeted by Sojiro and Caesar. Behind them were two adults. One was a very round man with a cheap yellow suit. Joseph was confused to how this man was even still alive with how big his head was, it looked like his chin had melted into his body and was choking him. The other adult was a woman that looked to be in her late twenties, early thirties. She wasn't as tall as Joseph but still rather tall with a slender build. She had dark brown hair that was clearly unkept along with eyes that seemed tired and baggy. She was wearing a yellow long-sleeved shirt striped with white and red horizontal lines, a blue denim skirt, and white kitten heel shoe.

The older gentleman in the cheap suit turned to Joseph. "Ah you must be Joseph Joestar." He said shaking his head.

Joseph nodded. "That's the name my mom gave me." He said smirking a bit at his own joke causing both Makoto and Caesar to inwardly sigh.

"Right of course. I'm . I'm the principal here, it nice to meet you Joestar." He said walking up to Jospeh. "You know when Speedwagon first asked me to take you in I was going to say no. But after seeing your test scores I don't think we can afford to push you away!"

Makoto eyes light up for a moment. High test scores? She hadn't heard anything like that about Joseph. Joseph didn't seem like the intellectual type to her. Heck, she wouldn't have been surprised if he had never been in a library before. But this only confirmed her suspicions. Joseph wasn't telling her the whole truth. He was hiding something and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

"Anyways this will be your homeroom teacher ." The principal said gesturing to her.

Kawakami nodded with little effort, "It's nice to meet you." She said enthusiastically not even bothering to look at Joseph when she spoke. "Come meet me in the office on the third floor when you get here tomorrow. I'll show you to your homeroom."

"Beyond that if you have any other questions I'm sure both Caesar and Makoto can help. Please do tell Speedwagon were grateful for his donations too when you have a chance." Kobayakawa said almost verbally licking Joseph's boots.

Joseph sneered. He hated people like this. Only thinking about themselves and using the success of other to get by in life. To Joseph, Kobayakawa seemed like a spineless coward and would sell his own mother at the chance to get more power. "Sure, I'll let him know you've been oh so helpful." Joseph said with a hint of sarcasm.

Kobayakawa smiled, "Good, good. Now if you'll excuse me I have to make some phone calls. Please enjoy your time at our school Joseph." He said excusing himself and heading up the stairs. He was closely followed by Kawakami who hadn't even bothered to excuse herself.

Sojiro sighed, "Alright looks like we're done here. Let's head home." He said turning to Joseph.

Joseph nodded. He would do anything to get out of here. Schools pissed him off already but this one seemed like it was going to be a giant pain in the ass. The less time he spent here the better. He put his hands in his pockets and follow Sojiro outside, leaving a stunned Makoto and Caesar in the main hall.

Caesar turned to Makoto. "Well that was a surprise. I've never seen the principal grovel like that." He said.

"Caesar!" Makoto responded. "You can't talk about him like that." She said defending their principal.

"If that wasn't groveling I don't know what is." Caesar responded.

Makoto was about to say something but let it go. Caesar wasn't wrong and it wasn't like Makoto held the principal in high esteem anyways. Regardless she was still trying to process everything. Joseph was a mystery to her. Just when she figured one thing out, ten more questions came up.

"You okay there Makoto?" Caesar asked snapping Makoto out of her own thoughts.

"Yeah… I'm just thinking." She responded weakly.

"I understand. I'm not looking forward for spending a year with that idiota either. According to Sojiro-san he's a pain in the ass back home too. Honestly, I hate guys like that." Caesar said shaking his head at Joseph. To Caesar Joseph wasn't just a moron but an arrogant moron at that. "Well I have to be going now. Want me to take you home?" Caesar offered.

"No, I'm okay. Thank you though." Makoto said shaking her head at Caesar's request. She smiled a bit. Caesar was a good friend and one she could count on. Sure, he had his own rumors about how he treated some of the girls at the school, but Makoto didn't believe them. To her Caesar was her reliable partner and the only one who listened when she spoke. It felt good. "I'll see you tomorrow Caesar."

"Bene. I'll see you tomorrow." He said nodding and heading towards the door and outside, leaving Makoto alone with her thoughts.

For a brief moment Makoto felt more than alone. She felt like something was about to begin. That with Joseph entering the school, it would never be the same. Then again, she could just be paranoid. It was trait she shared with her sister. Sighing deeply, she began heading home hoping that everything would work out.

"Well that didn't seem to bad now did it?" Sojiro asked Joseph as the two walked back to the car.

"Yeah it was like a doctor's visit. Not too bad at all." Joseph responded shrugging his shoulders and his words dripping with a hint of venom. He hated the fact that he had to attend a school like that. Though he had some more thoughts than that. The teachers seemed all but useless to him. His homeroom teacher looked like an overworked slave, the volleyball coach was a self-entitled jackass, and the principal was a bootlicking suck up. All in all? Pretty bad. Though if there was any bright side it was that he didn't mind Makoto all that much. Sure, she seemed a bit stuck up and robotic but at least she wasn't arrogant.

That didn't apply to Caesar though. Throughout his entire visit Caesar didn't say a word to Joseph, choosing instead to ignore him. If anything pissed of Joseph it was being ignored or doubted. He barely even knew Caesar and Joseph wanted to punch him in the face already.

Sojiro sighed, "Just keep your head down and don't cause any trouble. Don't forgot I'm not going to defend you if you get in trouble. You're on your own." He said.

Joseph nodded. It was just like an adult to let other fend for themselves. To them if a kid got in trouble it was their own fault for breaking society's rules. Joseph just wanted to go to bed and forget all about this day. Hopefully tomorrow would be better for him.

As the two continued to walk, suddenly Sojiro's phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it. "Yeah? No, I'm on my way home…. What is that? Okay…. Do you really need it? Okay, I'll get it on the way home." Sojiro said to the other person on the phone. He quickly hung up and turned to Joseph. "Listen I need to make a quick stop. Can I trust you to head back to the cafe on your own without causing any trouble?" He asked.

Joseph shrugged. He wasn't above getting into any trouble but at the same time he was too tired to cause any. Although now that he had some time he would probably stop by some restaurant or something to get some food. He ate some snacks from his bag that morning for breakfast and was starting to get hungry. "I'll do my best." He responded.

Sojiro shook his head, that would have to do. "Good. Don't take to long getting back now. I want to lock up early and I don't want to wait for you." He said.

Joseph nodded. "Don't worry if I get killed you can close up whenever you want." He said jokingly.

Sojiro didn't even have the energy to respond and simply waved him off as he headed back to his car leaving Joseph alone.

Joseph looked around, in all honestly he didn't know this area very well. He pulled out his phone and began to pull up directions back to the cafe. As he was looking up the directions he noticed a blond head of hair walking on the other side of the street. Joseph looked up from his phone and saw none other than Caesar walking past him.

Joseph smiled, it seemed Caesar hadn't noticed Joseph. Now was the perfect opportunity to follow him. It only made sense to Joseph. If he followed Caesar he could find out how he ticked. Once he had that, Joseph could destroy him next time they meet! Chuckling to himself Joseph began to follow Caesar keeping a good amount of distance between them. Joseph followed Caesar all the way to the train station. Caesar then stopped near the entrance to the underground section of the train station. He then pulled out his phone staring intently at it.

Joseph hid behind a pillar as Caesar began to type something on his phone. If Joseph had to guess he was probably waiting for someone. His girlfriend perhaps? No, Caesar was an arrogant prick. No girl would go out with Joseph. As Joseph began to think about who was meeting Caesar, his own phone beeped.

Joseph pulled his phone out of his pocket and found the eye app back on his phone. Joseph cursed under his breath, of all the times to bother him. As Joseph went to delete the app once more something odd happened. Suddenly Joseph got a massive headache. His head felt like it was going to explode and he fell down on one knee. He gripped his head and closed his eyes tight trying to ignore the pain. As soon as the pain appeared however, it was gone.

Joseph stood up and opened his eyes, happy that the pain was over. As happy as he was that the pain was gone, he was also confused. Everyone around him was gone, not a single soul seemed to remain after he opened his eyes. And then there was his new surroundings. He was underground now, it almost looked like he was in the subway system back home in America. There were differences however, wherever he was it was dimly lit by florescent lights hanging on the wall around him. The air was thick with… something. What it was Joseph was having a hard time breathing, his breaths heavy and long. He seemed to be standing on top of some sort of rails, but the rails looked old and decrepit. Like they hadn't been maintained in years. The rails continued forward down a long concrete hallway, but Joseph couldn't see the other end as it was shrouded in darkness. Overall his surroundings were depressing to say the least.

"Hello! Anyone here?" Joseph shouted hoping to grab anyone's attention. Joseph waited for a moment but received no response. Letting out a sigh Joseph grabbed his bags and began marching forwards down the hallway, unaware of a pair of eyes watching him.

As Joseph walked he began to retrace his steps before coming here. First, he woke up. Then he visited his new school. After that he followed that Caesar kid to the train station and then…. "Argh! This makes no sense!" Joseph shouted throwing down his bags in frustration and rubbing his hair. How the hell did he wind up in some creepy abandoned train station? And where was everyone?

As Joseph fumed he heard a quiet voice behind him. "Lost?" It said causing Joseph to turn around.

The source of the voice belonged to a young man about average height with an athletic build. His hair was long and black, almost glistening against the dim light. He wore a red double-breasted jacket along with dark green pants. On his feet were a pair of thin black boots that went up to his thighs. However, his most standout feature were his eyes that seemed to glow a bright yellow. "I asked you a question. Are you lost?" The man asked once again.

Joseph let out a sigh of relief happy to see he wasn't alone anymore. "Yes! One moment I'm at the train station then I'm here. Crazy right?" Joseph asked picking his bag up and walking over to the man. "I'm Joseph by the way."

"You may call me Strazio." Strazio responded as Joseph walked up him and extended his hand. "What… are you doing?"

Joseph tilted his head a bit in confusion. "Um… offering my hand? I mean I don't know you and all. Just trying to be nice." Joseph said starting to get slightly frustrated at Strazio's attitude.

"You… want to touch me? Me?" Strazio said seeming offended by Joseph's offer.

"Gezze don't need to take it so personally." Joseph said taking his hand back. "Come one man! No need to be so depressed. You gotta smile!" Joseph said now donning a massive grin on his face.

"Come one man. Say it with me. Happy! Joy! Nice to meet you man!" Joseph said now dancing back and forth in place trying to put a smile on Strazio's face. But despite his best efforts Strazio only started onwards not reacting to Joseph. His cold expression quickly brought down Joseph's own joy. "Come on man I-"

"How old are you Joseph?" Strazio asked interrupting Joseph.

"Umm… seventeen…" Joseph answered his question feeling a bit hesitant. Joseph began to slowly take off his bag. Joseph wasn't sure what was going on but he wasn't above smacking a stranger with his bag to get away.

"You're so young! So full of… life." Straizo said smiling as a shine of light blinded Jospeh for a brief moment. Joseph was shocked to see Straizo teeth were pointed like two sharp daggers. "Come, give me your youth!" Straizo said leaping at Jospeh.

Joseph swung his bag as far back as he could and then swung it forwards hitting Straizo with as much force as possible. "Get away you creep!" Joseph shouted as the bag connected with Straizo's face and knocked him back down to the ground.

Straizo laid on the ground for a moment before picking himself up and holding his check where Joseph had struck him. "How… how dare you…." Straizo said trembling with rage. "I'll kill you!" He said as suddenly Straizo was covered in a dark shadow. The only thing Jospeh could still see on him were his glowing yellow eyes. Suddenly Straizo body began to twist and turn in unnatural way as his body became a mass of a black ink.

Suddenly the mass of ink like substance exploded. In its place something new appeared. It was a tall young man with flowing blond hair that reached down to his waist. He was wearing a thin pink velvet shawl that wrapped around his body. Both at the top of head and near the base of his feet were several white flowers with a yellow inside. This new forum began to speak, "How dare you reject my beauty! You don't understand at all! I'll rip the skin from your body until you understand!" This new form shouted speaking with Straizo's voice, however it was deeply distorted.

Joseph began to backpedal. He was to shocked to say a word. He didn't understand anything! What had happened to Straizo? Why was he like this? And why was Joseph so afraid right now? Joseph felt his blood run cold as he suddenly froze in place. He couldn't move a inch. "Stay away from me!" He shouted throwing his bag at whatever had become of Straizo.

His bag flew at Straizo but before it could reach him a sudden gust of wind picked up. The wind was fast and razor sharp tearing Joseph's bag to pieces. "No way…" Joseph said stunted.

"Don't bother running, you can't escape me now!" Straizo voice said through this new form as it waved its hand towards Joseph. As it did so another gust of wind picked up knocking Joseph hard against the wall causing him to cough up some blood. Parts of his body were cut by the wind and even his beloved scarf flew off when he hit the wall.

Joseph fell to the hard-concrete floor knocking the air out of him. His body was screaming his pain as both his nose and mouth began to drip with blood. His vision was blurry as he tried to crawl forward. "Someone… help…." He said weakly to anyone who would listen.

Strazio's new form seemingly glided across the floor stopping in front of Joseph. It slowly reached down and picked him up by the neck. "Now, give me your life!" Straizo shouted as this from's other hand suddenly pierced Joseph's body as it's fingers reached inside of Joseph's shoulder.

Joseph let out a cry of pain at the sudden pain in his shoulder. If things couldn't get any worse he witnessed as the blood leaking out of his new wound slowly travel through the arm of whatever had become of Strazio. One thing was certain, he wasn't human anymore. He was more of a monster. "Oh yes! This is good!" Straizo said as he drained Joseph's blood.

Joseph's vision got worse as he could barely see a thing now, a gray haze now covering everything. With each passing second Joseph felt himself get weaker and weaker. As his vision began to go black he began to whimper something, "No…. Not… like…. This…."

"Stop right there!" A voice shouted as Joseph suddenly felt himself become free of Straizo's grip. Joseph fell to the floor and looked up. Straizo was crying out in pain as his arm was cut clean off.

Joseph looked to the source of the voice and was shocked by what he saw.

Running towards him was a young man dressed in an outlandish outfit. He was wearing a short white jacket along with a pair of striped black and white pants. Under his jacket he was wearing a striped purple and red shirt. On his feet were a pair of pointed white dress shoes with a square one-inch heel. He wore a golden belt around his waist and dangling from the buckle was a small red sun. His hands were covered by a pair of fingerless black gloves with black studs and on his right wrist was a golden watch that seemed to shine in the dim light. Around his neck was a small black bow tie. Wrapped around his forehead was long thin headband patterned with a row of tessellated triangles and adorned with two feathers on each side of the head. On top of his head was a top hat that had a checker pattern of red and black. Covering his face was a thin white mask that point upwards near the ends and downwards near the middle. Under his hat was a small mess of blond hair but it was hard to tell.

"Take this! Persona, Weather Report!" The young man shouted as the air around him seemed to gather together. Behind the stranger something new appeared. The air seemed to turn transparent like clouds and came together to form a muscular humanoid figure. The figure had several smaller clouds surrounding its body and a pair of red vertical like eyes. It's face looked like it was covered by a mask of some kind that had several spike sticking out near the top of it's head.

The stranger in the mask began to breath in deep as his body began to glow with an electric like energy, the air around him cracking slightly. The stranger put his hands together and then slowly pulled them apart. As he did a stream of small saucer like bubbles appeared in the empty space between his hands. "Take this Bubble Cutter!" The stranger in the mask shouted as a sudden gust of wind caused the saucer like bubbles to fly forward at an increasingly fast speed.

The bubble saucer cut through the air as they flew across the room and into Strazio. The bubbles seemed to be sharp like a razor cutting deep into Strazio's skin before popping. Strazio let out a cry of pain as he tried to hold down his new cuts with his single hand. "How… dare you!" Strazio shouted.

"Shut your mouth Shadow! It's over for you!" The stranger in the mask shouted back. The stranger breathed in deeply glowing in the same light as before. Once again, he launched his attack sending several bubble saucers at his opponent.

This time was different however, in response Strazio waved his remaining hand at the bubbles causing a powerful gust of wind to scatter the bubbles. This on for some time with the man in the mask doing his best to send his bubbles to attack Strazio but each attempt was blown away. Soon it was clearly to Joseph that the man in the mask couldn't win like this. The man in the breath was breathing heavily now and the humanoid figure that was behind him was becoming more and more transparent.

The man in the mask held his hand tight as he raised it above it his hand. Opening his hand, he produced a single saucer like bubble that floated gently above his head. The humanoid figure that was behind the man in the mask was now gone. The man in the mask let out a dry breath and went down on one knee, clearly exhausted.

Strazio made his way to the man in the mask. "How dare you cut my beautiful skin. I'll use your life to restore my beauty. I am beautiful and therefore anyone who would attack me is evil!" Strazio said.

The man in the mask smirked. "Hold up now. I wouldn't move another inch now." He said causing Strazio to freeze in his tracks. "Take a good look around you. My bubbles are designed to glide with the wind, all you did was blow them away!"

Strazio looked around and was shocked to find all the bubbles he had thought were popped gently floating above him. "So, what? What are you gonna do now?" Strazio asked.

The man in the mask stood up and brought up a single finger up touching the bubble floating above his head. "Did you know that bubbles are great for reflecting light? Like a camera they can capture light. My bubbles are special not only can they capture Hamon they can also reflect it! So, if I filled this bubble with Hamon where would it all go?" The man in the mask asked.

Joseph didn't understand a word the man in the mask was saying. Hammon? Bubbles? Joseph wanted to say something but his shoulder was already screaming in pain. He couldn't move an inch, only watching as the man in the mask battled Strazio.

Strazio let out a loud roar. "I'll kill you!" He said charging towards the man in the mask, his arm stretched out forwards reaching for his opponent.

"No, you won't." The man in the mask replied as his finger glowed with energy. Suddenly the bubble floating above his head light up and blasted several rays of light out. The rays of light connected with the other bubbles floating around. Within a second all the floating bubbles were reflecting the light and energy! All the beams of light then converged onto Strazio! Strazio screamed out in pain as the beams of energy seemed to pierce his body causing his skin to boil and burn. It was like Strazio was trapped in a ocean of light and slowly burning alive!

After a few second Strazio was burned to a crisp and his form turned black. What was left of his form then came apart and flew off. Now Strazio was back to his original human form. He was gripping several holes around his body that were steaming. "I… I just wanted to be beautiful." Strazio said weakly.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You best learn that." The man in the mask responded now regaining his composure and strength.

"Maybe… you're right." Straizo said before his entire body went up in smoke leaving behind a small glowing light.

Joseph eyes went wide. Did he just witness a murder? No, people don't just evaporate like that. What was going on? Joseph looked on as the man in the mask grabbed the glowing light putting it in his pocket, causing the light to go out.

The man in the mask then made his way to Joseph. Joseph wanted to do something, anything! What if this man in the mask killed him in the same way? Joseph couldn't die yet! He had so much to do still. Joseph grunted and began to move his body crawling on the floor trying to get away from the man in the mask.

However, his work was all for naught as the man in the mask simply jumped into the air and landed in front of Joseph. Joseph closed his eyes ready for the end. The man in the mask leaned down and looked at Joseph. "Mama mia. You can't be serious." Joseph heard the man in the mask say before Joseph passed out.

* * *

Joseph eyes shot open as he looked around. He was back at the train station. More specifically he was in the underground mall. He was surrounded by many different types of shops selling all kinds of wares. Joseph looked around and found the crowds walking around him, like nothing was wrong. Joseph looked at his hands. No dirt, blood, or cuts. Everything was normal, or so it seemed. He looked down at his clothes, the cuts he had received from Strazio were still there. But just like his hands there was no trace of blood. Still, there was one bigger reason why Joseph began to panic. Where was his scarf? He needed his scarf! How was he supposed to get anywhere without his lucky scarf! Then he saw something green and yellow at the end of hallway.

Joseph began pushing his way through the crowd pushing people out of his way. "Outta my way!" He shouted at the people he pushed aside. Finally, he made it to the other end of the hallway and found his scarf. However, his scarf was in the hands of someone he didn't expect.

Caesar smirked and looked at Joseph. "Looking for this?" He asked offering the scarf to Joseph. Joseph wasted no time and snatched the scarf out of Caesar's hand. "What, no thank you?" Caesar asked.

"I don't have anything for you, spaghetti head!" Joseph shouted wrapping his scarf around his neck.

Caesar seemed annoyed at Joseph's comment but not surprised. "What a buffoon. No class nor respect." Caesar said shaking his head in disappointment.

Joseph looked at Cesar directly in the eyes. Joseph began to grind his teeth as his fist began to ball up. "You wanna say that again French boy!" Joseph threatened.

"I'm Italian!" Caesar shouted back now losing his cool. Some passerby began to stop what they were doing and were now looking at the two. Waiting to see who would throw the first punch.

"Really? Are you sure about that?" Joseph responded smirking and sticking his tounge out in disrespect. Joseph was ready for Caesar to make a move. This is how Joseph would win all his fights. Piss off his enemies until they couldn't see straight and then kick their ass. Worked every time. Most of the time.

Caesar was seething with rage. Anyone passing by could feel the animosity and menace radiating from Caesar. Suddenly Caesar's phone went off. Caesar quickly reached into his pocket pulling his phone and answering the call. "What!" He shouted.

There was a brief silence from Caesar before his entire attitude deflated. All his anger seemed to disappear as he was overcome with a sense of dread. "Oh… I didn't mean it like that…. I understand…. No, I just finished up…. There's something you should know…. I'll explain when I arrive." Caesar said having a conversation with the other person on the line.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Joseph shouted annoyed that he was being ignored. His perfect strategy was now blowing up in his face.

Caesar hung up his phone and breathed in deeply. "I don't have time for you. Arrivederci." Caesar said giving Joseph a two-fingered salute and walking away.

Joseph was stunned silent. How dare Caesar walk away from him like that! Just as Joseph was about to shout something clever he felt lightheaded. He fell down on one knee out of breath. He was completely confused. Why was he tired all of a sudden? It was like he had just run a marathon! After a few seconds Joseph caught his breath and rose again. Joseph looked around to see some the passerby still staring at him. "What! This isn't a show! Get out of here!" He barked at the bystanders causing them to disperse and go back to whatever they were doing before.

Joseph let out a deep groan. Overall if he had to rate his day today, it would easily rank near the bottom. Turning on his heel, he began walking towards train readying himself for the earful he would most likely get from Sojiro when he got back. To make matters worse his shoulder was sore. Which didn't help his theory that the crazy place he had gone was simply a dream of some kind. What kind of bizarre life was he supposed to be living with nightmares and daydreams that were trying to kill him? And where was the mask man? Why did he help him? Above all, why was Caesar acting all smug! It made Joseph hate him even more! Joseph decided these were questions for tomorrow. Hopefully he wouldn't have another life or death dream on the way back.


End file.
